Starting now, in the window of Stu Pease's store next to his flower shop
in downtown Farmington, and going on in the weeks ahead, I'll be
raffling off a series of my photos - some mounted, some matted, and
some, possibly, matted and framed.

Each raffle will run approximately ten days. The first
one does not officially open till march 1, when there should be an
announcement of the raffles in Stephanie Piro's "Farmington Notes"
column in the Rochester Times. However, the first photo is
already up in the window, and tickets are on sale. the winning ticket
will be drawn on March 10th. Tickets are 25 cents each,or five tickets
for a buck. Get them from Stu.

This first photo is Maple Blossoms on Water. In it, you can see trees reflected in the menisci surrounding the
blossoms and, under the surface of the water, fallen leaves from the
previous autumn. The photo has a high-gloss surface; it is mounted on a
thin, heavy board. It may be propped up, or framed for better
preservation. The photo, borderless, is 16 x 24."

ALL
proceeds will be given to the Farmington Food Bank. It would be much
appreciated if you would pass the word about these raffles. Food banks
are in dire need.

Does
anyone recall any of the 2010 candidates running on a platform of
eliminating insurance coverage for contraception? You didn’t? Well,
you’re not alone. There was not one word about doing something so
draconian, but that’s what they are slipping through now.

In
a continuation of attacks on the women of New Hampshire, including the
removal of adequate protections against domestic violence, the NH House
passed HR 29 to require Congress to allow employers to deny healthcare
coverage for contraception. In another amendment attached to a
non-germane bill, the House is attempting to unravel 13 years of
bipartisan support for healthcare coverage for contraception.

The
Free State/Tea Partiers in our legislature are effectively telling New
Hampshire women they don’t have the right to determine when to start
their family or to control their own reproductive healthcare.

As utterly regressive as these actions were, a statement by Rep. Lynne
Blankenbeker, r, Concord, was simply
jaw-dropping. During a committee hearing, Rep. Blankenbeker said the
women of our state could avoid an unwanted or untimely pregnancy “with
simple over-the-counter remedies such as abstinence or condoms.” The
first is likely to lead to significant levels of domestic disharmony and
the latter has a high failure rate.

Our
grandmothers marched in the streets and suffered untold humiliations to
win us the right to have a say in governing ourselves. Ladies (and
pro-equality gentlemen), it looks like it is time to take to the streets
again!

On Wednesday, the House approved an amended version of HB 1666. The amendment, authored by Rep. Neal Kurk, requires both the House and the Senate to agree to all the terms of each public employee union contract.

Under current law, union contracts must be funded by the Legislature before the agreements take effect. Rep. Kurk's proposal goes light-years beyond that. As approved by the House, HB 1666 would allow either branch of the Legislature to veto any collective bargaining agreement with state employees -- for any reason whatsoever.

Think about that.

Does New Hampshire really want Legislators to micromanage the process of negotiating contracts with its public employees?

Contract negotiations, even with only a dozen or so players at the table, can take months or years. They are incredibly complicated and formed by innumerable tradeoffs, like higher pay in exchange for higher health care co-payments. There's no way 424 lawmakers micromanaging every line in a union contract are going to find common ground on even one contract, let alone eight, all of which expire at different times. Negotiations will become even more time-consuming, expensive and interminable. The Legislature will have to meet in special session often or force everyone to cope with prolonged uncertainty. The result will be chaos.

The House approved the bill even though there had never been a public hearing on the amended version. Why not allow the public a chance to weigh in? Because, according to House Finance Committee Chair Rep. Ken Weyler, "It will just fill the room with people who want to make a fuss."

On Wednesday, the Senate voted to amend the New Hampshire Constitution to create an artificial "spending cap" that would require a supermajority of Legislators to approve any increase to state spending which is over the rate of inflation.

The Senate's version of CACR 6 sets up a conflict with the House, which earlier had approved a version of CACR 6 that would require a supermajority of Legislators to approve any increase to taxes and fees.

Both versions attempt to set the current state budget in stone. Requiring a supermajority of Legislators to approve any future increases -- either of revenue or spending -- would lock the state into recessionary tax and spending levels. It could also cause the bond rating agencies to drop New Hampshire's bond rating (as they have with some other states, due to supermajority requirements).

CACR 6 “would ensure the state continues to feel the effect of this recession and all future downturns long after they pass,” said Jeff McLynch, executive director of the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. “It would prevent the state from making investments in education, infrastructure and other public services that are critical to making New Hampshire an attractive place for businesses to locate and expand and for people to live, work and visit.” Read the full NHFPI press release here.

Schools
have never needed funding support from the Enhancing Education Through
Technology (EETT) program more than now. EETT, the sole source of
federal funding for education technology in our nation’s schools, has
received no funding from Congress since 2010 and was once again left out
of the President’s FY 2013 Budget. The unmet needs of our schools for
hardware, software, technology professional development and IT support
will only continue to grow. This is precisely the moment that Congress
needs to help ensure that our schools are prepared for online
assessments in 2014 and that our students are equipped with 21st century skills. We need your help to wake them up to these realities!

Please
send a letter to your Congressional leaders now to let them know about
the vital services EETT provides to our teachers and our children. Ask
them to fund the EETT program at least at the $100 million level in FY
2013 so that our students, teachers and administrators have the tools
they need to learn, engage in professional development and implement the
online assessments in 2014.

The state's educators, the personnel at the NH Department of Education, and the state's parents and students can now breathe a sigh of relief! Early yesterday, the Education Committee voted on HB 1713, that would abolish the Department of Education. The outcome of the vote was a 16-1 decision to rule the bill inexpedient to legislate. We thank the members of the committee for their good judgement and standing by their commitment to serve the people of our state!

Over 400 of you turned out on January 19th to voice your
opposition against HB 1677, the new "right-to-work for less" bill. Now
we have a second opportunity to show Speaker O'Brien that we won't let
this attack on our rights go unanswered.

The House Labor Committee will be discussing and voting on HB 1677
and other anti-worker bills on Tuesday, February 21st, from 10 a.m.
until the late afternoon. members of the AFL-CIO and other interested parties are meeting at America Votes at 9 a.m. for
coffee and donuts before heading over to the hearing.